Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas - The editor and big chief of The Dubrovnik Times. Born in the UK he has been living and working in Dubrovnik since 1998, yes he is one of the rare “old hands.” A unique insight into both British and Croatian life and culture, Mark is often known as just “Englez” or Englishman. He is a traveller, a current affairs freak and a huge AFC Wimbledon fan.

Email: mark.thomas@dubrovnik-times.com

‘’Tourism is one of the consumer industries which, despite economic difficulties, has shown a steady growth over the past five years. We have already recorded almost 1,2 billion inbound travels at the global level with the expected rise of 1,6 billion in 2022 and an average spending of 1,100 Euros per travel for five years’’, recently commented Vitalij Vladykin, an analyst from the Euromonitor research company at the 17th Croatian Tourism Forum organized by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

Vladykin also added that during the period from 2015 to 2017, Croatia, Spain and Portugal recorded the largest and the most dynamic growth in arrivals in Europe, whilst in Croatia there is still enough room for development through mountain tourism and prolongation of the season.

Euromonitor International is the leading European market research company, which, for more than ten years, has presented global trends in tourism at the most important tourism event - World Tourism Fair in London. It also successfully predicts key trends in the travel industry.

Even though analyzes show that further growth can be expected in the tourism sector globally and locally, there are different scenarios within which it will be realized considering key macroeconomic factors, safety of destinations, the impact of new technologies, the connectivity of destinations as well as changes in consumer habits and values.

Considering the fact that Croatia has already broken tourist record again this year, that new investments and new airline connections are on the horizon as well as the fact that the country is well known as one of the safest world destinations, there is every reason to believe that 2018 will be another record year for Croatian tourism.

As part of the traditional tourist event “Days of Croatian Tourism” the Croatian National Tourist Board and Croatian Chamber of Commerce held the first part of the award ceremony last night in Mali Losinj.

"Croatia is today one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and to ensure the long-term success of Croatian tourism, we must continually improve. That is why Days of Croatian Tourism, as the largest gathering of stakeholders in Croatian tourism, is a great opportunity to look back on the results, exchange experiences, talk about new ideas and trends in the tourism world, "said the Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli on the occasion of the opening ceremony.

He added "This gathering is also an opportunity to reward those who are an example of the development and quality of Croatian tourism and encourage us all. I congratulate everyone on the award, thank you for your persistent and dedicated work and contribution to this successful Croatian tourist story."

Dubrovnik was front and centre in the first day of presentations picking up numerous awards in differing categories.

Valamar Lacroma Hotel – awarded in category of congress hotels

Pucić Palace – best stories hotel

Hotel Adriatic in Orebic – best small and family hotel

Adili Hebib (Hotel Grand Villa Argentina) – awarded in best receptionist “People are the Key”

Snježana Venier (Hotel Kompas) – awarded in category “People are the Key”

ACI Marina Komolac – best middle sized marina

The final evening is tonight and the awards continue with categories such as Best Cultural Destination, Tourist Agency of the Year, Campsite of the Year, Hotel of the Year and the Best Tourist Destination of the Year all up for grabs.

mali losinj days of croatian tourism

- Europe in autumn is Europe at its finest – writes  Condé Nast Traveler in one of its recent Facebook posts with a link to the article Europe in the Fall: The Must-Visit Destinations. Even though it’s not a new article, it’s still useful, especially if you know that Dubrovnik is at the first place of the list.

- With temperatures in the 65-degree range, you will hardly need more than a jacket in the fall, and the sea is likely still warm enough for swimming. The city is a cultural treasure trove, too, especially the Old Town with its baroque churches and aristocratic palaces, and this season also brings classical music and food festivals – writes Condé Nast Traveler.

And what’s more to add? Autumn is really the perfect season for all those that want to avoid the crowds but still enjoy all the beauties of the City. This year weather was just perfect, with just couple of rainy days. Let’s take today for an example: clear blue skies, sun is shining and temperature is around 20 °C. Perfect for sightseeing, island-hopping and even swimming if you are brave enough.

Dubrovnik in the fall? Yes, please!

Last week’s visit of the Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic to Russia and Vladimir Putin was quite successful.
On this occasion, an economic delegation from the country accompanied Grabar-Kitarovic in order to negotiate an entry to third markets.

Representatives of Croatian companies also had an opportunity to participate at a large economic forum that gathered representatives of more than 100 Croatian and 245 Russian companies in Moscow.

According to their impressions and report, Croatian representatives are very satisfied with talks they held with Russian economic representatives.

Some of the hundred Croatian companies that visited Russia last week were TŽV Gredelj (Railway Vehicle Factory), Keramika Modus from the ceramics industry, Zlatna igla-Siscia from the textile industry, a representative of Geo-teo and P.J.Hotel Zlatni lav from the tourism industry, Nautical Centre Prgin (NCP) – the repair shipyard from Sibenik as well as the tourist agency Kisik from Orebic on the Peljesac peninsula.

Next year will be an interesting one for the Croatian airline market due to two Canadian airlines that intend to fight for their piece of pie in Croatia.

After launching its seasonal direct flight between Toronto and Zagreb last summer and carrying around 5,000 passengers, Air Transat decided to expand its operations from one to two flights a week in 2017.

According to the latest information, the leading Canadian leisure airline has also announced an increase of its seasonal flights on the same route in 2018 by further prolongation of its flying season. Therefore, Air Transat will begin its operations two weeks earlier than this year, on the 15th of May 2018.

On the other hand, Air Canada Rouge, the leisure subsidiary of Canada's national airline, will introduce four weekly seasonal flights between Toronto and Zagreb next June.

Air Canada Rouge highlighted that it will offer more services to the country than any other airline in North America. The carrier will be operating flights between Toronto and Zagreb in the period from June to October.

It is interesting to note that both airlines will operate flights to Zagreb on the same day, on Tuesdays.

- We have introduced the President of the Republic of Croatia with all the problems of the city of Dubrovnik and the program “Respect the City”, where we want to reduce the number of guests from cruise ships. We also brought up the problems with Croatia Airlines and asked for help because of the fact that we believe we are third-rate passengers of that company, and our citizens are unable to buy cheap air tickets - said the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Frankovic, after talks with the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović in Dubrovnik today.

Frankovic told reporters that he also made the President aware of the problem of the postal service in the city, where sometimes letters take two weeks to be delivered. The question of the Dubrovnik Cable Car was one of the hottest topics for discussion. - The question about Excelsa Real Estate is that operate in the Republic of Croatia, but not under Croatian law, and yet they are able to carry out economic activities, which is inadmissible,” commented the Mayor about the owners of the cable car. Adding that he has asked the President for arbitration so that Excelsa is forced to pay their obligations.

According to unofficial information, the Croatian government is trying to use the negotiations between Great Britain and the European Union about Brexit in order for the UK to open its labour market for Croatian citizens.

When it comes to Croatian citizens on the labour market in the UK, they are in a very specific situation because, unlike other Europeans, they are still required to have working permits to work in the country.

This limitation, which is currently in force until the 30th of June 2018, Great Britain can prolong for two more years if it proves that the opening of the British market for Croatian citizens would lead to serious market disturbances. However, diplomatic sources state that Croatia considers this prolongation unfounded.

The British ambassador to Croatia Andrew Dalgleish pointed out that it is quite clear how much this issue is important to Croatia.

‘’At this moment I cannot tell you what will be the decision. However, what I can tell you is that the UK government is absolutely aware of the importance of this issue for Croatia and that we want Croatian citizens in the UK, after Brexit, to have the same rights and responsibilities as all other EU citizens’’.

Dalgleish also added that the UK does not want to have one regime for Croats and one for citizens of other EU member countries. ‘’The decision has not been reached yet, but we certainly take into consideration the importance of this issue for Croatia, which is a valuable bilateral partner of the United Kingdom and our ally in the UN and NATO’’, commented Dalgleish.

Lately big topic in the European cooking world is shortage of butter. It’s making the butter cost a lot more than before, as well as the products connected to it.

The lack of butter is a reflection of the major fall of milk production in Europe and is especially felt in France where butter is used in large amounts for the production of bakery products – writes Poslovni.hr.

Some stores in France have informed their costumers about the problem with signs placed on their windows, saying that they are not selling certain bakery products anymore due to lack of butter.  

In France, butter prices rose by as much as 60 percent this year, official data shows, and this will be felt even more  pre-Christmas time when cakes and other products may be missing.

Butter prices have also increased in Croatia as a result of global price movements. The price of butter is on average about 25 kuna per 250 grams, which is around three euro. It is expected that prices will get even higher, also during the pre-Christmas period. Some even went that far in speculating, saying that this might be a year without cakes and cookies for Christmas in Croatia.

The Voice of Dubrovnik

THE VOICE OF DUBROVNIK


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